


Calm in the Storm

by Musetotheworld



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Girlfriends comforting each other, Workplace Stress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:14:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22153105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musetotheworld/pseuds/Musetotheworld
Summary: Nia's had a terrible day at work. But with Kara she can forget all about that.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Nia Nal
Comments: 6
Kudos: 94





	Calm in the Storm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Argyle_S](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Argyle_S/gifts).



Kara can never pinpoint exactly what changes when Nia gets home. A charge in the air, a scent on the breeze, even with all her abilities and powers she can never quite grasp it. All she knows is everything feels brighter.

Today there’s an edge to whatever it is, and Kara winces when Nia tosses her bag into the chair without a word. Something is up, and her first instinct is to fix it.

Her second thought is to do nothing more than open her arms and let Nia sink into her side. They’d been very clear when all this started. They were heroes, and they were dating, but they were not dating heroes. There would be no rushing into action at the first sign of trouble. Instead, they would trust each other enough to wait for a request.

It wasn’t always easy, Kara’s always been the person to jump in and defend those she loves, even before putting on the cape. And Nia still struggles with believing her worth isn’t somehow tied to what she can do for someone. They both have scars from their past, and a deep sense of caring they can’t set aside. It makes them great heroes and great girlfriends. It also makes stepping back harder than they’d like.

“Do I need to fly out for some ice cream?” Kara asks when the tension starts to leave Nia’s frame. It’s clear Nia needs the contact right now, but Kara’s good at being gone and back within a few short seconds. Quick enough her absence doesn’t register.

Nia shakes her head, a bit more tension leaving as Kara pulls her closer in response. “No, I just need this right now.”

Kara hums softly as she settles in. If this is what Nia needs, then this is what Nia gets. Ice cream will still be there later if they need it.

One arm around Nia and rubbing at her back as they cuddle, Kara lets her breathing slow as she focuses her hearing on Nia’s heartbeat. It’s one of her favorite things when they sit like this for any reason. Their lives are hectic, and sometimes they need a few minutes or even hours to sit in silence and just exist together. It’s a luxury of sorts, having enough time to spend on peace like this.

The light from outside has dimmed towards dusk when Nia finally shifts in the way Kara knows means she’s ready to talk. Refocusing her senses on their surroundings, Kara lets her move so they’re still connected but can see each other a bit easier as they talk.

“I’m sorry I worried you,” Nia starts, and Kara bites her tongue before she can interrupt to protest. “Work was- work sucked today.”

That wasn’t what Kara was expecting, but she nods anyway. Nia’s recently moved up a little as a reporter, and Kara thought she loved her new team and responsibilities. In the last month since she started getting bigger stories she’d come home bursting with excitement and ideas more often than not. And their patrols were always full of stories and ideas as they caught up on what happened that day. So this, this is well out of the blue.

“What happened?” 

Kara hadn’t heard anything, but there’d been a few small incidents today that kept her out of the office. Nothing trying enough to need Dreamer’s help, or close enough for her to sneak out without someone noticing her absence. They tried to be careful of that. Kara being gone was bad enough, but throw Nia into the mix and who knows who might start adding things up.

This time it isn’t a shift. It’s a fidget, and Kara’s eyes narrow as she looks at Nia. “Joe said something again, didn’t he?”

Joe is the one dark spot of Nia’s new responsibilities. He’s loud, opinionated, and the kind of coworker Kara doesn’t want to rescue in a thunderstorm. Leslie had turned out okay, but Joe? He was too much of an ass to take the risk.

The way Nia flushes is enough of an answer, and Kara has to stop herself from storming out of the apartment to go yell at the man. “That absolute-”

“Hey.”

The word is quiet, but it cuts across Kara’s angry tirade before it can begin, drawing her back to Nia in a heartbeat.

With an apologetic smile, Kara realizes she’d been slipping into ‘fix-it mode’ a bit too quickly, and without being asked. 

“It was Joe, but it wasn’t his usual anti-alien crap. I think James got through to him there.”

Kara knows probably not enough to change his mind, but she can admit Joe’s been conspicuously silent on the matter for a few months now. It’d made the rest of the team a lot happier when he finally shut up. Kara’d even brought in cupcakes (store-bought, not baked, but it was the gesture that counted even if she couldn’t be honest about why she’d brought them).

A questioning look from Kara is all it takes for Nia to continue, which she does with a sigh. “It was about you. And whether anyone thought he had a chance if he asked you out.”

Utterly not what she was expecting, Kara sits stunned for a second before shaking her head. “There’s no way in the coldest depths of space,” she says eventually, trying and mostly succeeding at keeping her emotions in check.

Nia rolls her eyes as she leans forward to press a quick kiss to Kara’s lips, leaning back before they can get distracted. “I know that, but he doesn’t. And he doesn’t know you’re taken.”

That’s still a matter of debate, not against each other but against themselves. They want to be out, and especially with Nia making a name for herself away from Kara’s sphere of work it’d be easy enough on that front.

But Supergirl and Dreamer are together all the time on people’s screens, and neither woman trusts that their interactions there will be private. Their superhero personas are more likely to be photographed without them noticing than their human identities. And if someone gets a picture of Supergirl and Dreamer together, and starts thinking about Kara and Nia together, well…

They’re still thinking about that one.

“But we do,” Kara says as her brain works through everything, knowing that much is certain. It’s been their touchstone through the secrecy and strain. A lesson they’d learned as heroes that applies so well to the rest of their lives.

Not everyone needs to know the truth. What matters is they know their truth.

Another kiss, this one stretching a bit longer and helping ease the last of the tension from Nia’s frame. There might be other shitty days, but there will be warm nights and soft smiles to chase them away.

And when they pull back-

“Now is it time for ice cream?”


End file.
